5 Ways To Increase Your Metabolism

Are you one of those “unlucky” people that have slow metabolism and keeping the weight off is a constant struggle for you, or you are one of the “lucky ones” with fast metabolism and you can eat whatever you want without worrying that you’ll gain body fat? Although our metabolic rate (the speed at which our body burns calories ) is genetically determined, there are ways to alter your metabolism and increase the amount of energy needed for the body to sustain itself.

1. Eat a high calorie meal after the fast. Leptin is a hormone that tells your brain when your body needs food and controls the hunger. When your leptin is low you feel hungry and vice versa. Leptin levels decrease by about 50% after only one week of dieting, but to climb back up they need only 12 to 24 hours. So eating a high calorie meal (of course not a junk meal but well balanced one) after a prolonged period of starvation is the way to go.

2. Increase the protein. Eating more protein like lean meats,chicken,turkey,egg whites,cottage cheese,fish, whey powder will increase the hormone glucagon production. The mode of action of glucagon is to increase insulin sensitivity of muscle and other tissues , which in turn lowers insulin secretion, because you don’t need as much insulin to transport nutrients into your cells, if your cells are very sensitive to insulin. In other words more fat is burned when you eat more protein.

3. Avoid processed grains and sugars. Processed grains like pasta, white bread and cookies will raise insulin levels in the body.Insulin is the opposite of glucagon and it role is to facilitate the uptake of glucose from the bloodstream into the cells. The more high glycemic carbs are consumed the more insulin is produced to deal with the glucose in the blood.Long story short excess insulin means excess fat.Instead consume low glycemic carbs and fiber like vegetables, fruits, whole grain pasta and breads.

4. Add green tea to your diet. Research has shown that green tea can increase your metabolic rate up to 4% over a 24-hour period and also inhibit the movement of glucose into fat cells, which prevents high insulin spikes and fat gain. Besides fat loss, green tea was shown to decrease bad cholesterol,reduce appetite and inhibit the growth of some cancer cells.

5. Drink more water. Water helps the body body metabolize stored fat. Drink 2-4 liters of water every day,depending on your physical activity.

6. Take Metabolism Boosters. Some foods and herbs act like metabolism boosters. Compared to other foods, they need way more energy do be digested, and with that they help in speeding up your metabolism. Here is a quick list of the best natural metabolism boosters.